My tree-climbing Granny is holding her Border Terrier and I’m sure he didn’t steal much – hopefully not, as I once had the misfortune to share a holiday cottage in North Yorkshire with a collie who had stolen and scoffed half a stilton. Far Side’s well-mannered collie, Chance, wouldn’t do such a thing :-) The original photo is so tiny that I had to scan and enlarge it to work out what Auntie is holding – my Dad’s pet jackdaw, Jackie. I’ve posted on Sepia Saturday about him before – click here if you would like to read the original post about naughty Jackie Jackdaw

There will be an interesting (and amusing) variety of other posts on Sepia Saturday, so have a rummage and see what you can find.

It’s a great photo, Jo. I especially appreciate seeing the terrier (being a terrier fan!). Isn’t it interesting to see how tiny old photos look when they are enlarged. Some are very clear, others are just a bit shaky. Still, they show us something of the people and animals that we wouldn’t otherwise have. How sad that Jackie was driven away and didn’t return. Your father must have been heartbroken!

I wonder whether I can tame one of the jackdaws that nest in nextdoor’s chimney pot. We had a Border Terrier in the village nicknamed ‘The Wanderer’ for obvious reasons – but he always came home.
Great photo.

I used to have a “tame” Scrubjay in Los Angeles at my apartment. It would show up each day to be fed sunflower seeds. It would sit on my balcony screaming until I opened the drapes. Then he’d jump down expecting me to open my sliding glass door. Once open he’d hop inside and follow me to where the stash of seed was kept. I’d tell him to hop back outside where he’d jump up onto my hand and fill his mouth with seeds. He’d fly off to eat them on the roof and then repeat this several more times. I went away for Christmas for 5 weeks and when I came back he was gone. I guess he figured I’d abandoned him.

It’s funny how we train wild animals (or they train us) but if you miss a few feeds, they’re off to someone else. Survival of the fittest, I guess. Mum had a blackbird with a white tail who came to be fed every morning on the windowsill (despite the waiting cat) but he disappeared after a few years. In the meantime he was happy and well-fed :-)